Alabama beats LSU

TUSCALOOSA — Nick Jacobs scored 15 points and hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to help Alabama secure a 60-57 victory over LSU on Saturday night.

By JOHN ZENORAssociated Press

TUSCALOOSA — Nick Jacobs scored 15 points and hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to help Alabama secure a 60-57 victory over LSU on Saturday night.The rest of the Crimson Tide (15-8, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) missed five straight free throws down the stretch to keep giving the Tigers (13-8, 4-6) chances to at least tie.LSU missed all three 3-pointers in the final minute after pulling out three straight wins by a collective five points.Jacobs made 7 of 8 foul shots and blocked three shots for Alabama, which was coming off an anemic 49-37 loss at Auburn when the Tide scored 14 points in the second half.Alabama got 33 after halftime this time. Trevor Releford scored 12 points and Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper each had 10. The Tide was able to overcome a 2-of-18 performance from 3-point range after making just 2 of 19 attempts against Auburn.Johnny O’Bryant led LSU with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Shavon Coleman scored nine of his 11 in the second half before fouling out in the final seconds after Malik Morgan had already picked up his fifth.O’Bryant had his streak of double-doubles end at five Wednesday night against Vanderbilt but he hit two free throws with 8 seconds left in a 57-56 win.Coleman scored seven points during a 19-9 surge that erased most of an 11-point, second-half deficit. He collected an offensive rebound and hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut the disadvantage to 54-53 with 2 minutes left.Trevor Lacey then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation from the line but Jacobs grabbed the rebound and Lacey was fouled again.This time he hit both free throws for a 56-53 lead with 1:14 to play. O’Bryant and Anthony Hickey scored on drives for LSU after that.Charles Carmouche’s inbounds pass grazed Anthony Hickey and went straight to Releford, who missed both free throws. Then Andre Stringer missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Jacobs was fouled and hit both foul shots.Andrew Steele and Levi Randolph each hit 1 of 2 from the line in the final 19 seconds after the string of five misses by Jacobs’ teammates. Andrew Stringer missed a 3-pointer and the ball went out of bounds. Cooper couldn’t handle a bounce pass from Andrew Steele, giving the Tigers one more chance with 1.3 seconds left. Shane Hammink’s final heave from the other side of midcourt bounced off the glass.LSU, which trailed 27-21 at halftime, twice came to within two points early in the second half. Then Releford scored seven points in a 3-minute span with two drives and three free throws. Randolph hit a free throw and scored on an alley-oop from Releford after rebounding his own miss from the line for a 45-34 lead just past the midpoint of the second half.Releford didn’t score in the final 12 minutes and was 4-of-12 shooting.LSU shot 38 percent (21 of 56) while Alabama struggled even more, hitting 35 percent (19 of 54) and missing all eight 3-point attempts after halftime.

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